Day 18: The Return of the Nightmare
Day 18: The Return of the Nightmare is the 18th chapter in the Midori Days Manga and the 8th chapter of the second volume. Summary It appears Shuichi Takamizawa didn't forget about Seiji's puppet, and is very determined to see why Seiji is so protective of it. As he watches Seiji with his puppet, he becomes more and more enamored with its detailed looks, it's special gimmicks, and it's life-like responses and gestures. The question for Seiji is: will Shuichi figure out it isn't a puppet? Plot The chapter starts with Seiji and Midori. The two are shopping for clothing for Midori, something Midori is elated about and Seiji is bummed over. Lamenting his Sho Aikawa movie that came out on rental he won't see today, Midori breaks him from his thoughts asking why they aren't going to the doll shop. Seiji admits he went quite nuts the last time they were there, so it isn't such a good idea. Seiji thinks to himself about the doll shop and, most importantly, Shuichi Takamizawa, someone he'd believe would be rabid enough to slice his arm off just to get someone like Midori. Seiji is, however, confident he won't see Shuichi in a toy store of all places. Unfortunately for Seiji, he underestimates Shuichi's weirdness as he spots him arguing with a young child over a toy, claiming he got it first. Seiji quickly realizes he has to leave before Shuichi sees him, however it's too little to late as Shuichi calls Seiji out and says hello. Shuichi catches Seiji's eye for deals on action figures and reasons the two are here for the same thing: finding rare deals on rare items that pop up in such kids stores. Shuichi proudly exclaims how such deal hunting "separates the men from the boys" and Seiji tells him he's just here for outfits, hoping that if he plays along Shuichi will leave him alone (after all, he's already been caught twice in such settings). Shuichi shows Seiji a rather cool clothing set for Ultra-Girl Marin, but admits his current passion is puppets. He presents a tiny puppet on his hand and happily talks about all of its feaures, loving its cute design and moveable parts. As he describes his puppet, a young child, mistaking Midori for a puppet, grabs her and states loudly to his mother that he wants "this toy". The mother removes her child and explains it belongs to the young man holding it, however all Seiji cares about is Shuichi seeing Midori... which he does. Grabbing Seiji's arm, he is immediately captivated by her. At first Seiji believes he has been busted, however it turns out he believes Midori to be an extremely adorable puppet. As Seiji begins to think he's off the hook, Shuichi asks him where he bought it. Shuichi is persistent, however Seiji manages to get him to stop asking when he states it was bough overseas. Shuichi then begs Seiji for one last look. Seiji manages to convince Midori to let him have one final look to end all of this, and Shuichi is overjoyed to hear Seiji giving him his wish. Despite his outwardly happy exterior, he cunningly plans to remove Midori's outfit and find where her company logo is printed. he knows it has to be somewhere on the puppet, and once he has it, he has everything he needs to get his own. Before he can even put his plan into action, Midori sneezes. Shuichi is blown away by the confusion of the situation, and Seiji looks annoyed towards Midori who realizes the problem she accidentally caused. Still, much to Shuichi's logic, he assumes it's no more than a foreign toy gimmick, and that he must, now more than ever, have one. He compliments the toy before taking advantage of Seiji's love of Sho Aikawa, claiming that Sho is behind him in the store. Seiji turns to look, completely leaving himself unguarded. Shuichi rushes for Midori's dress and yanks it with the intention of yanking the puppet off... only to realize it doesn't come off. Shuichi realizes the implications of this situation, but before he can ask any reasonable questions or logically figure the situation out, he is placed in a suplex and slammed on his head by Seiji. Only after committing the Suplex does Seiji realize everyone is staring at him, and he promptly retreats while store staff call for help to catch him. Before the scene ends, the little girl that Shuichi was arguing with at the start of the chapter walks up to his unconscious body and snatches the toy he had away from him, telling her mom that she wants this toy. The following day Seiji tries to approach Shuichi about the other day, but finds Shuichi not only unable to remember the day at all, but showing a completely different and outgoing personality. Shuichi races forward, complimenting two girls on their cute looks before charging forth towards school. Seiji counts himself lucky this turned out this way, while Midori questions how one single bump on the head did this. The end-of-chapter captions explain his new personality only stayed for two days before reverting back, and Shuichi is shown rushing forward shouting "I LOVE THE EARTH!". Midori then tells the reader "Never attempt the back body drop at home! Leave it to the pros like Seiji!" Seiji Simply looks away from the page and states "Oh geez". Notes *The store they go to is "Mikazuki" that is apparently having a winter sale. *In the background of the toy store during Shuichi's argument with a child, several sets of stuffed animals can be seen that closely resemble Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro. *On the dolls in Shuichi's imagination, he sees the labels of two different companies, one being "Van-Die 1993 H-01" and the other being "2002 Vorxy Inc UFC-01". *While Shucihi's logic makes sense, not all companies print their logo's on dolls, such as those in the Ball-Jointed Doll market who tend to send letters of authenticity rather than print logo's on the dolls themselves due to the expensive nature of the hobby. *At one point a box comes up saying "TOY TRIVIA: Foreign-Made toys come with various gimmicks to double the fun!" *It's never made clear how Shuichi figured out about Seiji's love for Sho Aikawa. It wasn't brought up during their last meeting, Seiji never said anything to Shuichi about it, and there was never any indication he found out. It either could have been a lucky guess or a detail he figured out off panel, however Seiji never questions how he knew this. *Whereas Shuichi's eyes are typically very beady or hidden behind his glasses, in the last page of the chapter his eyes are drawn in a much more typical anime standard to show the change in his personality. Category:Chapters involving Shuichi Category:Volume 2 Category:Manga Chapters